REMARKABLE CLIFFS.

From the spot last spoken of, the river held on a due south course for the
remainder of the day; and at the same time changed its character. It lost
its sandy bed and its current together, and became deep, still, and
turbid, with a muddy bottom. It increased considerably in breadth, and
stretched away before us in magnificent reaches of from three to six miles
in length. The cliffs under which we passed towered above us, like
maritime cliffs, and the water dashed against their base like the waves of
the sea. They became brighter and brighter in colour, looking like dead
gold in the sun's rays; and formed an unbroken wall of a mile or two in
length. The natives on their summits showed as small as crows; and the
cockatoos, the eagles, and other birds, were as specks above us; the
former made the valley reverberate with their harsh and discordant notes.
The reader may form some idea of the height of these cliffs, when informed
that the king of the feathered race made them his sanctuary. They were
continuous on both sides of the river, but retired, more or less, from it,
according to the extent of the alluvial flats. The river held a serpentine
course down the valley through which it passed, striking the precipices
alternately on each side.

The soil on the flats was better, and less mixed with sand than it had
been, but the flats were generally covered with reeds, though certainly
not wholly subject to flood at any time. The polygonum still prevailed
upon them in places, and the blue-gum tree alone occupied their outskirts.
From the several elevations we ascended, the country to the N.W. appeared
undulating and well wooded; that to the eastward, seemed to be brushy and
low. Certainly there was a great difference in the country, both to the
eastward and to the westward. We had frequent views of the mountains we
had seen, or, I should have said, of a continuation of them. They bore